Lionhearted: Prologue
by XxAnimegirl300xX
Summary: "What if Peter had been the one to sacrifice himself for the Potters giving them the protection to survive Voldemort's attack?" AU In which Peter Pettigrew is given a choice: Hand over the closest family he's ever known, or die at the hands of the Dark Lord. And when he chooses Wormtail realizes that while he may be a rat, he had the heart of a lion. Prologue of Lionheart!Verse.


Lionhearted: Prologue

 _Hello and welcome to my first Harry Potter fanfiction!_

 _This is the first part of a fanverse I'm creating called Lionheart!Verse. It will follow the Marauders through their school years, the first Order of the Phoenix, Raising Harry, Harry's school years, and the conclusion of the war with Voldemort._

 _All will be posted here on and on ArchieOfOurOwn under Animegirl300._

 _Notes of tags and pairings at the bottom, Reviews are welcome!_

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The clock on the mantle chimed over the empty fireplace as Peter paced back and forth over the old wooden floors and around the mismatched sofa, chair, and table that furnished his safe house. The whole room was a bit on the run down side, but as it was nothing but a cobbled-together last-minute hideout, it was functional, as was it's purpose to be. It had been a little abandoned hut that Sirius found and had tried to fix up for him, but even his efforts hadn't been enough to completely get rid of the feeling of worness and stench of neglect. He almost felt guilty that those efforts would be in vain as very soon he wouldn't be needing the safe house anymore.

At that thought he heaved a heavy breath and sunk into the threadbare sofa, wringing his hands as he looked towards the clock. He was in a strange in-between of dreading the next approaching hour and wishing it would hurry up so that his torture would be over. In just one more hour he would be meeting face to face with the Dark Lord for the final time. He slumped in the seat, his head leaning back to stare glumly at the ceiling, and he wondered to himself how everything had come to this.

It had started out at first as an act of self-preservation.

How could he not betray the Order when the only choices were of dying a brutal and torturous death at the hands of the Dark Lord himself, who surly would have made an example of him if only to show the Order what happens to those who refused Lord Voldemort, or, of keeping his life at only the cost of leaking a few bits of information here or describing a plan there?

If those had been the only choices, was there really a choice at all?

After all, what loyalty had he to Dumbledore's Order?

To the old headmaster who'd never acknowledged him at all, who'd never so much as given him a second glance not only through all those seven years of school where everyone thought of him as just a talentless and dumb hanger-on to his Marauder friends, but worse, even now after years of faithful service to the Order? He, and also Mad-Eye who favored his much more talented and accomplished friends while never caring much for Peter, the man himself; only of what he could do for the greater good, for his role as canon fodder in the war.

And what loyalty had he to Fabian and Gideon who always made him the butt of their jokes even in important meetings with their peers, or to Dorcas and Marlene who never spared a second thought to poor useless Peter? The Longbottoms at least were more decent to him, although of course they were still more estranged to him than they were to Lily and James.

But of the whole Order, none of _them_ had given a fig about him, or so he told himself to assuage his guilt as so many of their member's had fallen to the Dark Lord's forces. He'd managed to fight that guilt for a whole year, and entire year of lying and hiding, and betraying out of desperation for his life, but now, finally, there was one thing that not even his desperation to live could have convinced him to do.

The Dark Lord wanted him to give up the Potters.

Anxious again, Peter heaved himself up to walk around once more before stopping at the small frosty window. The moon, besieged by thick dark clouds, was waning and he was grateful on Moony's behalf. His poor friend was out there, undercover with the werewolves. He winced at the thought of him, surrounded by dangerous enemies while at his most vulnerable, and he glumly thought to himself that this was part of why in retrospect all his former bitterness and excuses paled in comparison to what his friends had been willing to do, to give up for the greater good.

He'd been selfish. Selfish being an understatement.

He'd let his own petty grudges put his friends lives in danger. How could he have lived with himself if he'd survived the war with the knowledge that it was at the expense of his friends?

His friends...

Kind, patient, Remus who'd befriended him first and foremost and brought him into the fold, and who Peter had risked life and limb to keep company on those horrible, painful, nights of the full moon… Bold, daring, James who he looked up to as a brother and who had always been there to encourage and lead him through a crisis…Loving, beautiful, Lily who'd treated him just as much as one of the family as all the others…Little baby Harry who was like a bright light in a world of darkness and chaos, a symbol of hope for the future, and at one years old was just as much a Marauder as any of them; James and Sirius has seen to that… and even Sirius, who despite it all, even if he was the quickest to loose patience with him for being thick but who still never gave it a second thought to fight off his bullies, and who would have given his very life to protect him if he were ever given the choice…And that was exactly the choice that he, Peter, would have to make now.

He knew it, the moment that James, Lily, and Sirius had summoned him, baby Harry in his mother's arms sleeping safely and soundly, asking him to become their secret keeper, that if only to repay them for all those years of love and comfort, that he would choose to protect them.

And it wasn't a decision he made lightly.

Even as he stood now in the midst of his tiny ramshackle hide out that he would be leaving behind very soon, he could feel the panic and fear threatening his resolve.

But he knew he could do it… _would_ do it.

Poor Lily, and James, and Sirius, and Remus.

They had no idea what he was about to do, what he had been doing for the past year.

Turning away from the window once more, his eyes landed on the tiny lopsided desk in the corner, and he contemplated writing a letter, a last farewell to his greatest friends and greatest loves, explaining what he was going to have to do and hoping that it would be enough to earn their forgiveness. The clock was counting down the last ten minutes before the moment of truth would arrive, and he scrambled over, scribbling in his own clumsy writing his final words.

He was going to miss them so much, his family in everything but blood, all the memories of their school days that had started it all.

The thought almost made him suddenly giddy; it was almost like a prank; Mr. Wormtail's final hurrah, and on the Dark Lord himself!

He had to hold himself to keep him from laughing.

Just then, the clock on the mantle chimed, and with shaking hands, from mirth or fear he wasn't sure, he hurriedly shoved his last note in an envelope on his desk, and scurried over to the fireplace to put his hand on the timepiece. His back straightened, and he gripped his wand in his hand as the clock began to glow blue as the Portkey began to activate.

It was time.

Time to face the Dark Lord.

Time to face his destiny.

He closed his eyes and gathered all his courage, feeling a lot less like a rat, and more like a lion, and with one final blue glow Mr. Wormtail bid his friends a good life, and was whisked away.

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Tags: Fix-Fiction, Canon Divergence, More Competent Characters, Marauder Era, More Character Development, Tasteful Romantic Development (I promise), Necessary but believable character changes.

Pairings: James/Lily, Sirius/Remus, Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione, (Tonks/Remus)

Rivalries: Tom Riddle-Harry, Draco-Harry, James-Snape, James-Lucius, Regulus+Sirius-Bellatrix, Greyback-Remus, Narcissa-Lily

*Just wanted to let people know before they comment that I'm aware that people think you shouldn't start a sentence with a conjunction, however I've been researching the issue and found that there's no real reason not to do so, and I personally do so to simulate natural thoughts and speech patterns. So I hope you'l forgive me for liberal use of them.


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